UK property developers must be allowed and encouraged to increase supply, the RLA has said.

Summary:

• With strong demand far outstripping supply, UK property developers need to be encouraged to build more stock
• Local authorities have been called upon to release small plots of land that could be used for developments
• The RLA believe that buy-to-let landlords should not be affected by the stamp duty surcharge if they bring new-build property to market

The UK is in desperate need of more property if it is to house an ever-growing population.

As part of the inquiry into the UK housing market, the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) told the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee that it’s the lack of housing, not the number of buy-to-let landlords, that is the major issue facing UK property.

David Smith, the RLA’s Policy Director, said before peers: “Unless we address supply radically, there will be no significant change in housing cost. Simply shifting the dynamics so that it is more attractive to owner-occupiers than it is to private landlords does not increase supply; it just moves property around a merry-go-round.

“We must increase supply. Everything else, to some extent, is a red herring.”

Local authorities were also called upon to release small plots of land that could be used to build property, with some 46% of RLA members interested in helping to fund developments of fewer than 10 units.

An appeal was also made for further reform of Chancellor George Osborne’s 3% stamp duty surcharge, coming into effect at the end of next week.

The Residential Landlords’ Association believe that landlords should receive a discount on the increase when they have brought new-build property on to the market and helped increased the overall supply.